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Luis Valverde: “We are not talking about quotas to export cocoa”
Posted On 04 May 2017
The last meeting of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) was tense. Ecuador went straight to the point: producing countries should ensure transparency with regard to the figures they submit, that is to say, how much they produce, a key data to face the dramatic fall in prices. Last year, a cocoa quintal had a cost of $ 120, its current price is about $ 60. Daily Expreso interviewed Luis Valverde to make some inquires on this issue.
The Ivory Coast and Ghana have caused the price slump, due to an excess production of one million metric tons. In Ecuador, despite a production of only 290,000 tons, the crop generates resources for 100,000 families in the rural sector.
The problem is over-supply. There is even talk of a cumulative surplus of more than one million tons, equivalent to 20% of world production. Demand for chocolate also plummeted. The last meeting of the ICCO aimed at mechanisms to correct these defects and to avoid that the price continues falling.
Source: http://www.expreso.ec/